PR guru Mark Borkowski, who has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to American Express, said the deal could be worth millions.

He told the Standard: “I think it has more of a hope to succeed as a foreign export.

“It’s that image you have for Beefeaters, Bobbies, telephone boxes and the Routemaster buses. It’s the Downton Abbey effect, the projection of the Olympics. I don’t think you’ll see floods of Londoners buying their cuddly Met plod toy with their uniforms.

“If you think about NYPD or LAPD – I don’t think people in New York or Los Angeles have the same sort of romance about that police force.

“I would think it would be on a par with what the London Underground has done. It could be worth millions. Resources are stretched so let’s hope it is a multi-million pound success for London.”
He said Jed Mercurio, the television writer behind Line of Duty and Bodyguard had helped to stir up the “sexiness” of the brand.